Burns
by rowanrawr
Summary: Arra and Darren talk about Trials. Check inside, I've never been good at summaries.


**Well, I'll start by saying I've written this because 1) There's hardly any Arra related stories on here anymore, 2) I miss the old days of Fanfiction, 3) I currently have nothing better to do. **

**I wouldn't say that I'm going be back and writing lots from now on (this is probably going to be the only thing I write this year, unless inspiration slaps me in the face), but I do miss being on here, so I thought this would satisfy. Also, I'm pretty sure that this little story has been done before, somewhere in this fandom. But I don't care. **

I woke to the sound of voices above me. It took me a few minutes, but I finally recognised them, and decided keeping my eyes shut was the best thing to do.

'I just wanted to see how he was,' Kurda said quietly. I could tell he was standing in the doorway of my medical cell. There was a rustle of papers, which also came from his direction, and I guessed he was either on his way to draw up some more maps, or just returning.

'Asleep, at the moment,' Arra replied. Though her voice was hushed, I didn't miss the hint of annoyance in it. 'Why don't you come back in a few hours, after you've finished your work? He'll be awake by then, and I'll be gone-'

'Okay, okay!' Kurda's voice rose slightly as he cut her off sharply. I heard him sigh, and heard the movement of the curtain across the door being shifted. 'Will you at least come and find me when he wakes up?'

There was an irritated sigh from next to me. 'Fine.'

I heard the curtain flap and Kurda's voice came from behind it, muffled. 'Thank you.'

I waited a minute before announcing I was awake. I had noticed that my burns didn't feel as bad as they did the last time I woke up, and I also realised it was the first time I had woken up peacefully, not jolted awake by some nightmare. It was also the first time I had woken up without Mr. Crepsley sat by my side.

A moment of quiet passed. The only sound I could hear was scratching – like that of pencil on paper – coming from my left side, where Arra was sat. I let another few seconds slide by before I wiggled my burnt toes and fingers, all wrapped up in bandages, and blinked my eyes open.

Arra glanced up from the tattered book she was scribbling in and I grinned at her. 'I was awake that whole time, you know.'

She didn't look too phased by this, only shook her head and laid down the book and pencil on the empty chair next to her. 'Do you want me to go get him?' she asked, referring to Kurda.

I had shrugged myself into a sitting position, my back resting against the cold rock of the mountain that made up one wall of my cell. 'It's okay,' I smiled. 'You can find him later. I know you don't like him.'

She shrugged a shoulder. 'I do like him,' she corrected me. I gave a laugh, and she rolled her eyes. 'He's okay in small doses, and when he's not being annoying. Which I'll admit is hardly ever.' I laughed again, and she shot me a smile. 'And since when did you get to order me around?'

I grinned. This was the first conversation I'd had with Arra that hadn't been about the Trials or Princes or Trackers. Usually, when I had been left alone with her, talk had always turned to fighting, or surviving, and out of all of those conversations she'd always struck me as serious. And seriously dedicated to the clan and her job. This was a different side of her, and it suddenly threw me off.

My laughter died off a little awkwardly – and suddenly – and I cleared my throat to break the sudden silence that had fallen over us.

Arra was watching me curiously, but there was concern in her tone. 'What's wrong? Do you feel okay?'

I nodded, my eyes focussing on a small section of fabric that had frayed, and that I now picked at to make it worse. I didn't want to offend or hurt her, but as the thought passed through my head another instantly followed: Would she get offended if I told her I felt a little awkward? Would she laugh it off? It was that moment I realised I didn't know anything about Arra, only the things I'd heard others say – and all of that was mixed.

The truth blurted out of my mouth before I could stop myself. 'I don't know you. Anything about you, I mean…'

She looked vaguely puzzled by this, so I tried to clarify. 'I've never spoken to you about anything other than fighting or Trials.' I looked up sheepishly. 'I guess I just feel a little awkward.'

To my surprise – and relief – Arra just smiled. 'Well, that's because up until now we haven't needed to talk about anything else. But I understand. I suppose I already know all about you, so I didn't feel there would be any awkwardness.'

I glanced at her. 'How do you know all about me?'

'I'm a Tracker. It's my job to know everything about everyone.' I wasn't satisfied with that answer, so I levelled her with a stare that I managed to hold until she grinned. 'Larten and Gavner told me.'

'They haven't told me anything about you,' I pouted, feeling it unfair that I wasn't in the know. Arra laughed at my expression, and I felt my cheeks reddening, feeling foolish that I had just acted like a little kid in front of her.

She leaned back in her chair and put her feet up on the stone slab that was acting as my bed, her boots dusting the fabric of my thin blanket. 'Well, what would you like to know?'

I shifted so I was sat facing her, careful not to move too quickly for fear of irritating my burns, and scratched at a cut on my arm. Arra tapped her boot gently against my knee – the one that was least burnt – and I dropped my hand from my arm. I'd been warned by _everyone_ that scratching at cuts wasn't going to help them heal, but I often forgot.

I knew she was a Tracker, I knew Mika had been her mentor, I knew she'd taken the Trials three times. The thought of asking about her relationship with Mr. Crepsley entered my mind, but I quickly dismissed the idea – I knew her well enough to stay away from that subject!

My eyes settled on a scar that was cut along her jaw, and decided that would do for starters. 'How did you get that?' I gestured to the scar, and she put a hand to it.

'In a Trial,' she answered. When I didn't say anything, she elaborated. 'It was the last Trial I ever did. Number one, The Fight.'

I nodded, recognising the Trial and number. It was one of the ones that had been removed from the bag, because I would have been incapable of successfully completing it. The infamous Trial, where you had to fight a general, and win.

'I was put up against this _huge_ guy. Did you know that the opponent gets to choose what weapons will be used? The guy favoured greatswords. _Greatswords_!' I grinned as she indicated how big a greatsword was with a sweep of her arms. 'I didn't feel confident when he stepped up to fight, but when I saw him waving this huge sword around, well, all I could think of was how doomed I was. I could only just pick up the bloody sword they gave me!'

I laughed. 'So, what did you do?'

'I dragged the sword around behind me as I tried to dodge his attacks, but it wasn't getting me anywhere. I was cut and bruised after only ten minutes, and the Trial lasts an hour.' She shook her head at the memory. 'You aren't allowed to kill each other, but the guy had murder in his eyes, obviously not caring if he killed me. I know he wouldn't have, out of respect for the rules, but he sure looked like he would if he could.'

I wasn't smiling anymore, feeling the seriousness of the Trials creep up on me.

'One of the guards eventually called out that there were five minutes left. If one person isn't down by the end of the hour, the Trial restarts the next night, until someone has won. Knowing that, I lifted the sword again, just to block a blow. His sword slide down mine and it caught me.' Arra tapped her jaw. 'I went down, but he came at me again. I'd dropped the sword but the sight of him raising his over me made me grab it, by the stupid _blade_, and jammed the hilt into his throat.'

I was staring wide-eyed at her. 'You killed him?' I asked in a hushed voice.

'Of course not!' Arra laughed. 'He fell down, I stood up, and the guard called an end to the match. It was only then that I realised the great bastard had actually broken my jaw and I'd almost cut my fingers off.' She laughed again as I recoiled at the thought.

'So you completed the Trials.'

Arra nodded, 'I did. And was consequently accepted into the Trackers.'

I thought about it for a moment, and delivered my verdict of her story with one word, 'Cool.'

She laughed, and I grinned, stretching my arms back over my head. 'You're lucky, you know.' Arra commented, her eyes scanning over the bandages that I wore.

'I guess.' My skin wasn't too bad – the medics had been able to heal it before too much damage had been done – and was currently just a light pink, though I had been told that would fade soon. I had also been reassured that my hair would grow back. My lungs weren't clogged with smoke, my eyes hadn't suffered, and my feet felt better every time I woke up.

'Did you get any burns?' I asked suddenly.

'Bad ones?' Arra asked, and I nodded. 'Only the last time I had it.' She started to unbuckle the straps on the wrist guard she wore on her left arm. As I watched her, I realised I had never seen her without it on. 'I'm not sure what I did to get this, but it's the only one that's left any sort of mark.'

The wrist guard fell away, and I could feel myself pale at the sight it had revealed. The skin of her wrist and arm was red and disfigured. There were scars all over the skin, and I felt sick at the thought of the pain she must have been in.

I looked away, suddenly feeling very selfish at how I had reacted to my own burns. Though I could hardly call them burns, compared to that. 'I'm sorry.' I muttered, still not looking back up at her.

Arra sighed, and laid a hand on my knee – the wrist guard was back on. I watched her hand as she spoke, and noticed that the skin was a little disfigured there as well, but not nearly as noticeable. 'I didn't mean to make you feel bad.'

I shook my head. 'You didn't.' It was such a transparent lie, but I tried to hide it with a smile.

Arra stared at me for a moment, and then smiled back.

We sat in silence for a while, before Arra took her hand away from my knee and stood up, collecting her book. 'I'll go and fetch Kurda now.'

I looked up and smiled. She smiled back after a moment, again watching me curiously, again with something like concern in her eyes. I opened my mouth to say something, but she beat me to it. 'I'll see you again soon, Darren.' She held the curtain aside and turned back, with a grin, 'And I promise not to talk about Trials next time.'


End file.
